Friday, January 8, 2016

This blog is dedicated to the
technical review of ASUS ZenPad 8.0 P024 (Z380KL) and ASUS Audio Cover, which; thanks
to ASUS India I own. ZenPad 8.0 is the
flagship tablet from ASUS’s Zen series. After launching ASUS ZenFone series
they last year launched ZenPad 8.0 (Z380KL).

ZenPad 8.0 is a flagship product
from ASUS. ASUS has been pretty successful in branding its ASUS ZenFone in
market. Watching the market go gala on ‘Zen’ they brought the same ‘Zen’ brand
to tablets.

ZenPad 8.0 runs on 1.4GHz Octa-Core
Qualcomm Snapdragon 415 SoC which in itself is a huge booster enhanced with
state of the art ASUS Audio Cover. Let’s come to the detailed review.

ASUS ZenPad 8.0 (Z380KL)

Fashion-inspired look and feel:

The design of ASUS ZenPad 8.0 is
a mixture balanced beauty and strength; modern influences and a simple, clean
look that gives it a universal and stylish appeal. Zenpad’s back-cover texture
gives a rich look and feel.

The ZenPad 8.0 has a thin
metallic strip around the screen which gives the impression that the device is
metal, although the actual frame and rear are made up of polymers. The USB and 3.5mm ports
are at the top, while the power and volume buttons are on the right edge. The
rear has a removable very durable and unbreakable plastic panel with a rough finish that seems like leather from afar. The camera sits in the left corner. The device is 8.5mm
thick and weighs 350g, which is fairly comfortable as far as tablets go.

Little monster:

ASUS ZenPad 8.0 is an 8-inch
tablet. There are no off-screen Android soft-keys. Instead, the screen occupies
a significant 76.5 percent of the front i.e. 76.5% screen-to-body ratio, with
narrow borders on all sides - an incredible engineering achievement made
possible by reducing the width to least possible.

Enjoyment to fullest:

ASUS ZenPad 8.0 comes with 4G LTE
featuring a Snapdragon processor. Allows for 3G voice and LTE for all intents
and purposes of every Indian. Superb audio, but low resolution might sooth down the
real fun of a HD video, which is still considerable for the tablet.

ZenUI:
The ZenUI interface which is crafted aesthetically and intensely by ASUS UI experts. ZenUI comes with material UI foundation which makes it more impressive and user-friendly for non techno-savvy users. Asus ZenPad 8.0 runs on Android 5.0. The UI is comfortable to use, with apps classified and sorted into groups. ZenUI is known for its customisability and personalization, which helps make your ZenPad 8.0 more up and ready for your needs and preferences.

ASUS ZenUI has more than 1,000 features that improve upon the standard Android interface. You’ll enjoy a simpler and smarter experience, with a stylish new layout that expands white space for a cleaner design, placing the information you need front and center. The brand new ZenUI is brighter, smarter, simpler and even more beautiful.Performance:

The Asus ZenPad 8.0 is very close
to most Snapdragon smart phones in terms of performance. I installed numerous
apps and games, most of them ran well except few glitches with video
performance. Heating at the top is a problem after heavy usage, which is a pretty common with every smart device. HD video runs fine with very few glitches, ZepPad 8.0 is given low-resolution considering its market –
just 1280 x 800 WXGA display.

Although the in-built speaker is of decent volume, enough to enjoy jukebox. I would recommend investing in the audio cover for a better
media experience.

Battery:

Battery life is decent as well,
4000mAh battery powering the device which is pretty good for tablet. I have
been using ZenPad with data services running; and been very comfortable in getting
a full day use out of it.

Camera:

The primary camera of the Asus
ZenPad 8.0 is an 8-megapixel shooter, while the front camera is a 2-megapixel
one. Pictures taken are good in daylight, and ZenPad 8.0 comes with ASUS's PixelMaster technology which gives fine photograph even without flash.
The front camera is barely acceptable for selfies, and should only suffice for
video chatting.

The camera software is excellent, however. The
primary camera records video at 1080p, while the secondary camera records at up
to 720p.

Specs:

The ZenPad 8.0, with 2GB of RAM,
16GB of internal storage, and LTE
connectivity is perfectly designed for Indians. Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi,
expandable storage up to 128GB, a 4000mAh battery, an 8-megapixel primary
camera, and a 2-megapixel secondary camera, both without flashes is other
standard stuff.

Above all resides with ASUS ZenPad
8.0. It’s now the turn of Audio Cover.

Audio Cover do not come with ASUS
ZenPad 8.0, it is a separate accessory. But I would highly recommend to but it
if you are having ZenPad 8.0.

The Audio Cover fits onto the
back of the tablet. The speaker on the audio cover is DTS-tuned, and can
simulate 5.1 surround sounds. Audio output is heavily boosted, and using the
speaker cover makes the tablet an excellent media device for both audio and
video.